'The shipping pens? Equipment sheds? Not to mention the cattle.'
'Gentlemen ranchers prefer to have such things out of sight,' Sara answered in a highbrow tone.
'After all, it's a question of ambience.'
Kerney laughed.
'You mean they don't want to get cow shit on their boots.'
'Exactly,' Sara said, climbing out of the truck.
'Let's go see what kind of feed supplement Proctor Straley favors for his herd.'
Kerney laughed again. It felt good. *** A housekeeper took them through a great room with an arched wood ceiling offset by pale white smooth plaster walls. Recessed lighting accentuated oversized western paintings by modern cowboy artists. Deep green sofas and chairs were arranged to create quiet conversation areas.
Large slabs of polished marble on pedestal bases served as tables, and expensive Navajo rugs littered the hardwood floor.
Proctor Straley waited for them in front of a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace in a study room. A row of windows gave a view of the open range and forested ridge beyond. Under his feet on the flagstone floor was an early Navajo chief's blanket with strong alternating black and red horizontal stripes broken by a series of zigzag diamond motifs.
Heavyset with a ruddy complexion and closely clipped gray hair, Straley carried his seventy-plus years well. He had the eyes of a man who knew how to watch and listen.
Kerney flashed his shield and introduced Sara as Lieutenant Brannon.
Straley moved behind an oval mahogany desk, motioned at two low-back leather chairs, and waited for Kerney and Sara to settle in.
'Did you get a call that we were coming?' Kerney asked.
'No,' Straley replied.
'Then I'm sorry if we've inconvenienced you,' Kerney said with a smile.
'My secretary was supposed to call.'
'She didn't,' Straley said.
'Why are you here?'
'We'd like to ask you a few questions.'
'What are they?'
'Were you aware of your daughter's affair with Scott Gatlin?' Kerney asked.
'Yes, but what's the point?' Straley asked.
'We're not convinced your daughter was murdered by Gatlin,' Kerney said.
'Does that possibility interest you?'
Intense curiosity flickered in Straleys eyes.
'I hired Scott Gatlin, brought him to this ranch, treated him like a member of the family, trusted him. If he killed my daughter, I bear part of the burden. How do you think that makes a father feel?'
'Terrible,' Sara said softly.
'How did you learn other affair with Gadin?'
'Phyllis never hid who she was or what she did from me, although there were times I wished she had. It took me many years to accept that she was a woman with strong appetites who didn't care what other people thought of her.'
'It must have been difficult to raise such a daughter,' Sara said.
Straley smiled wanly.
'We were always clashing. She could be as tough minded as any man I've known. While her mother was alive, she protected Phyllis from my censure. I was very disapproving of the way she lived. We had what you might call an uneasy truce over the past ten years.'
'But you kept a relationship with her,' Sara said.
Straley nodded.
'Absolutely. I did love her and I miss her deeply. She could light up a room with her exuberance. She had a special charisma that drew people to her, especially men.'
'What do you know about her relationships with men?' Sara asked.
'She would only talk about them if I asked, and for a long time I avoided the subject. She had what she called her one-love rat-a time rule. As far as I know she never deviated from it, no matter if the affair lasted a week or a year.
Occasionally a lover would filter back into her life, but most were permanently banished. I think, in her own way, she was looking for the perfect mate to match her.'
'You know this as fact?' Sara asked.
Straley nodded.
'After years of arguing she forced the issue with me. We spent an entire night staying up and talking right here in this room over a bottle of Scotch. She wanted me to understand why she lived as she did.'
'What did you learn?' Sara asked.
'That she saw no reason not to find pleasure with men. That few could match her as equals. That she had no desire to be possessed or owned.
She firmly believed she could live by her own rules.'
'Was she faithful to the ambassador?' Kerney inquired.
'Until the point of their separation, I'd say yes.'
'What caused the break?' Sara asked.
'She never said, but it came suddenly. I assume Hamilton tried to dominate or control her, which was something that wouldn't do with Phyllis. After all, he had spent many years in the military as a high ranking officer and was used to being in command. Starting out, I think Phyllis may have been drawn to the qualities of leadership she saw in Hamilton. Perhaps she felt she'd found that perfect match,' Sara asked questions about the ambassador's personal qualities. Straley sketched Terrell as confident, mature, responsible, and even tempered.
He noted that Terrell had been aware of Phyllis's reputation, appeared unconcerned about it, and seemed very much in love with her.
It wasn't a portrait of the bullying, self-serving officer Kerney remembered from Vietnam. Either Straley wasn't as sharp as he seemed, or Terrell had done one hell of an acting job.
Kerney approached the issue from a different angle.
'How did Terrell wind up on the Trade Source board of directors?'
'I recommended him at his request,' Straley said.
'He was between diplomatic appointments at the time, and with his government and military background I thought he could serve the corporation well.'
'In what ways?' Kerney asked.
'Trade Source was founded as a venture capital company looking to expand into South American media, publishing, print, and television markets.
The Hispanic population is burgeoning, becoming more sophisticated, especially in large South American cities. That caught my interest as an investor. In Hamilton's prior diplomatic postings he'd worked closely with foreign officials who could open doors to overseas investors. We wanted to make sure each entry into a foreign market would have strong local appeal.'
Sara picked up the thread.
'From what I've learned, Trade Source doesn't have a strong media focus anymore,' she said.
'Which is why I left the board,' Straley said.
'I'm a media man, always have been. Newspapers, magazines, television, the Internet, and radio stations interest me. That's where my corporate expansion goals lie.'
'Why did Trade Source veer off in a different direction?' Sara asked.
'Hamilton brought a proposal to the board that had the strong backing of the Commerce, Treasury, and State Departments. They were interested in helping developing nations in South America establish a banking and financial technological infrastructure without using foreign aid appropriations. Trade Source was asked to provide the venture capital, identify subcontractors, and oversee the initiative under a memorandum of understanding that guaranteed
